Sajid Javid will come under pressure from a crossbench group of MPs to bring forward a bill that would allow reformers to decriminalise abortion in Northern Ireland.

More than 30 MPs have pledged to send the home secretary written questions on Monday demanding the domestic abuse bill be brought before parliament by the autumn. This would allow pro-choice MPs to put down an amendment that would give women in Northern Ireland the right to access terminations.

MPs step up pressure for Northern Ireland abortion reform
Cross-party calls for backing on plan to force May to intervene

Michael Savage
Sat 2 Jun 2018

MPs are being canvassed to back a plan to force through measures liberalising abortion in Northern Ireland, it has emerged.

A cross-party coalition has drawn up a proposal that would force Theresa May into taking action. Some of the most senior women in the Tory party are said to be supportive of the campaign following the landslide result in Ireland’s referendum in favour of ending its near total ban on abortion.

The only Northern Irish woman with a choice about abortion? Arlene Foster
In Northern Ireland a rape victim seeking to end a pregnancy risks a longer sentence than her attacker. This has to change

Stella Creasy
Tue 29 May 2018

The jubilation at the result of the referendum on abortion in Ireland quickly gave way to rage as focus turned to Northern Ireland, where women are treated as second-class citizens when it comes to their reproductive rights.

Abortion is only legal in that part of the UK if the mother’s life is at immediate risk – as the law stands, a victim of rape who sought to end an unwanted pregnancy would risk a longer prison sentence than her attacker. Women whose babies will not live outside the womb are forced to carry them to term.